A Selection Of Heat Noises, In No Particular Order

Some suggestions for the obverse of ‘brr’

  • Woof
  • melting
  • FML
  • hot af
  • Man it’s a hot one
  • Yow
  • arr
  • “ssss” to indicate sizzling.
  • buhh
  • it would have to be like an “aahhh” that when you say it out loud sounds like an uncomfortable exhale
  • “guhhhhhhhhhh”
  • “How does one onomatopoeticize mouth-breathing?”
  • Oy
  • “whew!” while fanning one’s face…
  • “hot enough for ya?”
  • *whistle noise*
  • Whew
  • “Hoo.” Alternatively “Hooboy.”
  • UFF-DA
  • Fuuuggggghhhhhhhh
  • “at least it’s not fucking windy”
  • Phew (BrE)
  • “Pluhhh” — but you have to say it slow, with a lazy tongue. The “p” evokes the drip of an AC unit, or the peeling of one’s butt off a seat.
  • sheesh
  • driiiiiiiiiip (drip)
  • “It’s not the heat, its the humidity.”
  • It’s that unavoidable gasp when you step outside and feel the weight of the heat bearing down on you.
  • rrb
  • “fwoof” like the sound you make when the weather is so hot it forces the air from your lungs
  • [a word for when you pull your top away from your sweaty chest and fluff it to make a little breeze]
  • *pants heavily*

The Awl

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Silvia Killingsworth

Written by

Editor of The @Awl and @thehairpin. Patron Saint of early bedtimes.

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